Each issue of North American Whitetail brings you effective techniques for outsmarting monster bucks. You'll learn the success secrets of North America's most accomplished, most knowledgeable whitetail hunters - riflemen and bowhunters alike.
Tune in every Wednesday at 8:00 PM ET on Sportsman Channel to catch new episodes of NAW TV presented by WildTree Wildlife Nurseries. This month, we’re airing the following programs: WEEK OF SEPT. 28-OCT. 4 “Kansas Plains & Lone Star Dreams”: Dr. James Kroll battles a Kansas windstorm during bow season, and Gordon Whittington hunts the Texas Panhandle with his Browning lever gun. Food sources are the focus of this week’s “Build Your Own Deer Factory.” Gordon also profiles Scot Keck’s crazy Kansas non-typical. WEEK OF OCT. 5-11 “Hills & Hollers”: Haynes Shelton rifle hunts the rut at Indian Hill Outfitters in Pike Co., Missouri. Dr. James Kroll continues this year’s “Build Your Own Deer Factory” series with a deep dive into timber management. We discuss the pluses of permanent…
Every fall, with the turning of the leaves comes something even more predictable: the release of our October issue, one that’s always filled with how-to info. Well, it’s that time of year again, and here it is: an issue aimed at helping you see more deer and fill more tags. When North American Whitetail began nearly 40 years ago, showcasing new tactics was simpler. There were few specialized sources of information on the subject, so a lot of ideas now well-known were still novel. And while a lot of folks had grown up deer hunting, there wasn’t nearly the level of sophistication in the average participant’s strategies or techniques. And there definitely wasn’t much deer-specific gear. Whitetail hunting then was mainly an escape from everyday life. Yes, it still is,…
With another deer season just beginning, it’s a good time to address the topic of “antler restrictions” (ARs) and see how effective a management tool they’ve been in the years since they came into common use. THE HISTORY OF BUCK SIZE LIMITS Until the late 1960s, the only place with restrictions on which buck a hunter could shoot was Texas. Several decades ago, some progressive Texas ranchers figured out that growing trophy bucks meant letting numbers of bucks reach maturity. Landowners dictated to hunting lease holders the size/age of bucks that could be shot. These “regulations” had nothing to do with the state agency. By the late ’80s, magazines such as North American Whitetail had begun to highlight such practices and show the impact private-land managers and hunters could have…
With passage of the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act signed into law by Pres Donald Trump on Aug. 4 the U S Department of the Interior has an answer to the long-running problem of funding operation and maintenance of federal recreational lands The GAOA fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Act after years of legislative inaction on that front, with $900 million now allocated annually. Also included is $9.5 billion, paid out over the next five years, to pay for completion of a backlog of maintenance work on federal properties nationwide While much of the talk concern ing the $9 5 billion has been about rebuilding aging infrastructure on non hunting properties such as national parks and battlefields $3 billion of that will fund work on national forests and…
“Back in the day” is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in the hunting community. It’s not a mantra used to describe my generation of hunters, but instead refers to graduates of the old school who came before me. Even though I can’t pass as an old-timer, I can appreciate some of the methods and gear that usually are the topic of such discussions. Vintage hunting clothing is a subject of particular interest. And let me tell you, more recent advancements in that category are phenomenal. When my granddad and dad started hunting, it wasn’t even all that common for hunters to wear camouflage. Plenty of bowhunters headed to the stand wearing a flannel jacket and blue jeans. Heavy wool trousers and blaze orange parkas were the norm…
TEDDYROOSEVELT once wrote, “The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom.” For those who have found themselves wandering around in such places, it’s often curiosity about the unknown that keeps them moving ahead. Others might come for the adventure of seeing new and uncharted territory, where it’s possible no other person ever has been, or at least not for many years. Others might enter for the solitude, claiming the silent noise of the forest is refreshing and therapeutic. Those who have spent any time in a wilderness setting often speak of how easy it is to go back, as if they have a natural longing to be there. Whatever the attraction might be for individuals, once they experience the big woods, it…
